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Blood of the Pale Light
406 pages, Paperback
Published September 17, 2024
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April 24, 2025
Read this review and hundreds more at The Quill To Live.
Right around this time last year, I reviewed indie author Eric Linke’s debut novel, Dreams of the Witches Three. It was a promising outing from an equally promising author, and he has begun to deliver on all that promise with an intriguing sequel: Blood of the Pale Light.
The city of Wulfgeld reels following a catastrophic attack by vicious wolves and powers of chaos unleashed by the Hexverat. But there’s no rest to be had. Radnor née Veigarand, son of a god, must protect Wulfgeld once more, this time from an invading force teamed up with the Pale Light, a sect of religious fanatics. Radnor’s lover Elena seeks to understand her newfound powers so she may wield them against the evil forces that plague Wulfgeld and the wider world. Meanwhile, a powerful sorcerer journeys to Wulfgeld in search of the power that resides there, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.
Linke’s second outing into this Norse-inspired world is at times delightful, at times puzzling, and generally fun throughout. Blood of the Pale Light raises the stakes, pitting its characters against a fanatical threat allied with a grounded invading force. Linke plays within his world to dazzling effect at certain points, and there’s plenty to enjoy for readers who liked book one.
One of Blood of the Pale Light’s biggest strengths is the addition of Dragorim (which is most certainly not his real name). The sorcerer opens the novel with the cutthroat execution of a beloved servant before he sets off on a trek to Wulfgeld in search of the power looming around the city. Dragorim’s chapters are interspersed throughout the book, alternating with the perspectives of Radnor, other Wulfgeld residents, and the invading force. His journey includes an encounter with a sea god, fights with rival casters, and run-ins with evil nobles. Dragorim’s magic is unwieldy and dangerous, and Linke has no qualms about showing us its dark side. These passages made me anticipate Dragorim’s eventual arrival in Wulfgeld with bated breath.
Meanwhile, things in Wulfgeld are stark. I struggled with the city the most of any element in Blood of the Pale Light because it lacked a sense of visceral realness. Linke clearly has a strong sense of place in his mind as he writes Wulfgeld, but it doesn’t quite translate to the page and, by extension, the reader. I could only imagine Wulfgeld as a dark assemblage of ramshackle buildings often layered with a light frost. Objectively, I know this is incorrect. The city has a full fighting force (diminished by the recent attacks, of course) and fully functioning services, plus a big ruling council. These are all facts, but they didn’t coalesce into a big picture idea of what the city feels like to live in. I would appreciate more quiet moments spent in Wulfgeld to give me a better sense of the place and its atmosphere. Naturally, the denizens of Wulfgeld have other things on their mind, so it’s a fairly forgivable gripe, but I’m hoping for more in the next installment.
That said, the conflict surrounding Wulfgeld is really cool. An outside force seeks to take over Wulfgeld’s land, but they enlist the help of the Pale Light. The religious sect is maniacal in its devotion and feared around the world for their fervor in battle. Who wants to fight a warrior who believes he’s killing for his goddess and will earn afterlife accolades if he dies? About halfway through the book, Linke introduces a perspective from that side of the battle, giving us a window into the dynamics between the army and the Pale Light. It’s tense and wobbly, like these tenuous allies are on the brink of collapse. It adds a dash of humanity to what could otherwise be a glob of nondescript warriors.
Linke also busts out his world and introduces new mysteries in a steady drip. Two gods play a key role in Blood of the Pale Light, even though they’re still (mostly) behind the scenes. Every time they appear, it provides a nice tease of events to come. Similarly, Linke plays around with his magic system more, which centers around mysterious sorcery and gaulderens, crafted objects with magical effects. This isn’t a rigid system with tons of rules, and it’s refreshing, thanks to how well it fits within his novel’s vibe. The world is dangerous, and the effects of a given action aren’t always clear. The magic reflects that.
Radnor, the main character of book one, gets plenty of time to shine here, but I was more interested in the secondary characters this go-around. Radnor wants to protect his newfound loved ones, but he has trouble doing that when evil forces congregate wherever he goes. His storyline isn’t bad by any means, but he feels like a straight man to the supporting cast’s more exaggerated stories in this sequel.
Finally, the prose. I think Linke has improved a lot here, and I thoroughly enjoyed many of his battle scenes specifically (more so than in book one). There are still telltale signs of an indie author without the resources and editors of a big name—for example, many of the scenes over-rely on exclamation marks, and others are improperly punctuated. I mention these issues in case such things are a deterrent, but they didn’t do much to remove me from the good stuff within these pages.
Overall, Blood of the Pale Light proves a worthy follow-up to its predecessor, and I’m excited to see where Linke takes us next.
Right around this time last year, I reviewed indie author Eric Linke’s debut novel, Dreams of the Witches Three. It was a promising outing from an equally promising author, and he has begun to deliver on all that promise with an intriguing sequel: Blood of the Pale Light.
The city of Wulfgeld reels following a catastrophic attack by vicious wolves and powers of chaos unleashed by the Hexverat. But there’s no rest to be had. Radnor née Veigarand, son of a god, must protect Wulfgeld once more, this time from an invading force teamed up with the Pale Light, a sect of religious fanatics. Radnor’s lover Elena seeks to understand her newfound powers so she may wield them against the evil forces that plague Wulfgeld and the wider world. Meanwhile, a powerful sorcerer journeys to Wulfgeld in search of the power that resides there, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.
Linke’s second outing into this Norse-inspired world is at times delightful, at times puzzling, and generally fun throughout. Blood of the Pale Light raises the stakes, pitting its characters against a fanatical threat allied with a grounded invading force. Linke plays within his world to dazzling effect at certain points, and there’s plenty to enjoy for readers who liked book one.
One of Blood of the Pale Light’s biggest strengths is the addition of Dragorim (which is most certainly not his real name). The sorcerer opens the novel with the cutthroat execution of a beloved servant before he sets off on a trek to Wulfgeld in search of the power looming around the city. Dragorim’s chapters are interspersed throughout the book, alternating with the perspectives of Radnor, other Wulfgeld residents, and the invading force. His journey includes an encounter with a sea god, fights with rival casters, and run-ins with evil nobles. Dragorim’s magic is unwieldy and dangerous, and Linke has no qualms about showing us its dark side. These passages made me anticipate Dragorim’s eventual arrival in Wulfgeld with bated breath.
Meanwhile, things in Wulfgeld are stark. I struggled with the city the most of any element in Blood of the Pale Light because it lacked a sense of visceral realness. Linke clearly has a strong sense of place in his mind as he writes Wulfgeld, but it doesn’t quite translate to the page and, by extension, the reader. I could only imagine Wulfgeld as a dark assemblage of ramshackle buildings often layered with a light frost. Objectively, I know this is incorrect. The city has a full fighting force (diminished by the recent attacks, of course) and fully functioning services, plus a big ruling council. These are all facts, but they didn’t coalesce into a big picture idea of what the city feels like to live in. I would appreciate more quiet moments spent in Wulfgeld to give me a better sense of the place and its atmosphere. Naturally, the denizens of Wulfgeld have other things on their mind, so it’s a fairly forgivable gripe, but I’m hoping for more in the next installment.
That said, the conflict surrounding Wulfgeld is really cool. An outside force seeks to take over Wulfgeld’s land, but they enlist the help of the Pale Light. The religious sect is maniacal in its devotion and feared around the world for their fervor in battle. Who wants to fight a warrior who believes he’s killing for his goddess and will earn afterlife accolades if he dies? About halfway through the book, Linke introduces a perspective from that side of the battle, giving us a window into the dynamics between the army and the Pale Light. It’s tense and wobbly, like these tenuous allies are on the brink of collapse. It adds a dash of humanity to what could otherwise be a glob of nondescript warriors.
Linke also busts out his world and introduces new mysteries in a steady drip. Two gods play a key role in Blood of the Pale Light, even though they’re still (mostly) behind the scenes. Every time they appear, it provides a nice tease of events to come. Similarly, Linke plays around with his magic system more, which centers around mysterious sorcery and gaulderens, crafted objects with magical effects. This isn’t a rigid system with tons of rules, and it’s refreshing, thanks to how well it fits within his novel’s vibe. The world is dangerous, and the effects of a given action aren’t always clear. The magic reflects that.
Radnor, the main character of book one, gets plenty of time to shine here, but I was more interested in the secondary characters this go-around. Radnor wants to protect his newfound loved ones, but he has trouble doing that when evil forces congregate wherever he goes. His storyline isn’t bad by any means, but he feels like a straight man to the supporting cast’s more exaggerated stories in this sequel.
Finally, the prose. I think Linke has improved a lot here, and I thoroughly enjoyed many of his battle scenes specifically (more so than in book one). There are still telltale signs of an indie author without the resources and editors of a big name—for example, many of the scenes over-rely on exclamation marks, and others are improperly punctuated. I mention these issues in case such things are a deterrent, but they didn’t do much to remove me from the good stuff within these pages.
Overall, Blood of the Pale Light proves a worthy follow-up to its predecessor, and I’m excited to see where Linke takes us next.
Displaying 1 of 1 review